The Arma III mod “Exile” is awesome!

Since the first little bit of gameplay I saw for the Arma III mod “Exile“, I’ve been hooked on the concept. It’s definitely not a DayZ clone like a lot of people have been saying, sure it has a similar idea behind it, but it’s a completely different feel – and still very rough around the edges.

Lots of running… and looking…

You’re dropped (from the sky) into the world with only an orange jumpsuit, a bottle of water, and the parachute you just dropped… From there your job is to scavenge for equipment and try not to die. Gear is pretty easy to come by, and weapons are found all over the map, generally surrounded by a pile of ammo. This makes Exile a little more fast-paced than DayZ and relieves some of the stresses of losing your gear because it’s so easy to find.

Bases & Missions

Exile takes the Arma III environment and puts a bit of a DayZ spin on it with some zombies and a survival situation requiring you to forage for food and water, but it also goes one step further when the implementation of player built structures and missions. I haven’t had a chance to see a lot of player constructions yet, but what I did see reminded me a lot of Rust or any other grid-type building. Exile also includes various AI’s in the bigger cities, as well as randomly occurring “invasions” that spawn a whole bunch of loot-bearing rifle-toting enemy AI in a set spot.

Somebody converted this church into an ugly base..

You also have the ability to use Arma III’s side channel in Exile, and it makes grouping up to take down invasions significantly easier, it also makes it easier for someone to give away your position, so watch out.

Crafting & Nutrition

The crafting system seems pretty rough and it was a little difficult to figure out how to use items together, it seemed like a lot of things maybe didn’t have a use, yet. With a mod as new as Exile, this is honestly something I had expected, but what I did see was definitely promising! I don’t think it has anything comparable to other survival games just yet, but it sounds like they’re going to have a pretty interesting crafting system nonetheless.

The hunger/thirst system is extremely basic, and it comes down to a 0-100% scale. None of the DayZ style guesswork is involved, and it generally only takes 1 bottle of water or 1 cooked can of food to get you back to 100%. This system really fits well with Exile due to it’s faster pace and heavier focus on combat, where DayZ is slow and focused more on the survival end of things. I did find that your hunger/thirst seemed to drop a little too quickly in Exile, and within 30m or so you’re always going to need more or risk dying.

Stores & Vehicles

Exile also tosses a lot more vehicles into the mix and makes it significantly easier for you to just buy the gear you want with the implementation of stores. There are 3 stores found around the Chernarus map and through them you’re able to acquire the specific gear that you want/need. You can also buy helicopters and land vehicles, which I thought was pretty interesting. Again, another reason Exile is a lot different than DayZ.

So now you’re probably wondering “Well, how do I buy things at the store?” and that’s a good question. Through clearing invasions and killing other players you’re awarded in-game currency which you then use at the stores. You can also sell various items that you pick up along the way.

Conclusion

The Exile mod for Arma III might be a rough work-in-progress, but it’s definitely got an amazing amount of potential. Just remember that Exile and DayZ are two different games with two different ways of implementing that same basic survival idea. DayZ is more focused on the harsh reality of surviving an apocalyptic setting, where Exile is more about combat, base building, and that kind of thing.

About the Author

Branton

Hey there! I'm Branton, the founder and lead editor here at PC Game Haven. Since our launch in 2015, we've helped thousands upon thousands of gamers build their dream desktops, find the perfect peripherals, and more. Thanks for stopping by!

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